Making IVF Safer with Nuclear Transfer

CTV News (June 9, 2016): New IVF Method Limits Transfer of Bad DNA to Babies: Study:

Nuclear transfer, a reproductive technique wherein the nucleus of an egg cell replaces the nucleus of an egg cell that has healthier cytoplasm, holds promise for older women whose eggs have undergone changes with age that make them unsuitable for reproduction.

Now United States scientists want to use the technique to avert birth defects that have their genesis in the cytoplasm of the mother's egg, affect the muscles, eye, brain or heart of the child, and have no effective treatment.  The idea is that by transferring the nucleus of an egg to an egg with healthy cytoplasm, disease-causing mutations of the mitochondria (the energy centers of the egg cells, will not be passed on to the child.  The technique has been legal in Britain since last year.     

So far, the study has shown that that "small tweaks to the existing procedure can reduce the risk of mutant mitochondrial DNA transferal."  Two examples are performing the procedure on the day of the egg's fertilization and freezing the egg of the patient rather than that of the donor. 

The technique does not remove the risk of the child's contracting a disease but does reduce it.  Ongoing research will focus on refining the technique.